Israel & New Breed's "Your Presence Is Heaven" Receives GRAMMY Award

Released amidst international acclaim in August of last year and launching to the top of multiple retail sales charts, Israel & New Breed’s Jesus At The Center received a GRAMMY Award yesterday from The Recording Academy during the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards®, which were broadcast live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on the CBS Television Network. Receiving an award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song for the hit AC radio single from the album, “Your Presence Is Heaven” (a tie with Matt Redman’s “10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord),”), the latter nod marks Israel Houghton’s first award in the category and fifth GRAMMY so far for the celebrated recording artist. Houghton shares the GRAMMY with “Your Presence Is Heaven” co-writer, Micah Massey.

Jesus At The Center, which was also nominated for a Best Gospel Album GRAMMY, marks Houghton’s return with New Breed after two successful solo projects for the first live recording in five years from Israel & New Breed. The album is a joint venture by Integrity Music and RGM-NEW BREED Music, and was recorded live over four days in front of more than 29,000 worshippers at Houston’s Lakewood Church. The Jesus At The Center double-CD, 18-song album with three additional studio singles features Israel & New Breed returning to their roots, delivering new anthems for the modern day church. The album further became Israel’s fifth consecutive Billboard Top 200-selling album, gathering praise from fans and critics alike. (Click here to buy the album.)

Co-writing all the songs, except the Bob Dylan cover, “To Make You Feel My Love,” and “You Have Me,” by Michael and Lisa Gungor, Israel says of Jesus At The Center, “The overarching story of the album is that sometimes we can be so ‘churched’ that we can lose sight of the ‘who, what, why’ of worship. This project simply places Jesus where he is supposed to be. We intentionally removed the metaphors and simply focused on his name.”

In addition to the GRAMMY nominations, Houghton was recently tapped by the 28th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards to perform at their annual awards ceremony. Houghton sang his No. 1 Gospel hit single, “It’s Not Over (When God Is In It)” from Jesus At The Center. Watch his compelling performance that aired live on GMC TV here.

Israel & New Breed will also be playing the new music at numerous upcoming events around the world this year, including: